The Green Eyed Monster
by bellacatbee
Summary: Dean doesn't know if he can even trust Castiel anymore but faced with the prospect of another Hunter with designs on his angel he starts to realise his feelings for Castiel might run deeper than simple friendship. Dean/Castiel, Sam/Gabriel


The hunter's name was Mathew.

He had a huge truck, better for off-roading then Dean's baby and an accent that was all honey and twang. He came from down in Louisiana and had stories about taking on Pagan gods pretending to be crocodiles. He had the scars to prove it and a necklace of alligator teeth. Dean didn't like the kind of hunters who took trophies from their kills. Trophies would just come back to haunt you one day. You had to destroy everything in Dean's mind. You salted, you burned and then you buried it and hoped it never came back.

Mathew was a different story. He liked showing off his scars, liked showing off his collection and Dean found himself rolling his eyes behind the man's back while they were out at a bar and Mathew was charming Sam with his stories. Trust Sam to eat them up. It was like show and tell but with dead werewolves and vampires. Naturally Sam was delighted. Dean was just drinking down the beers and wondering why Bobby had ever paired the three of them up together. Bobby wasn't going to make it on the hunt with them so he'd sent Mathew and his truck and his nice, seductive voice and Dean already knew it was going to be one long kill.

They didn't even need another hunter. If anything happened they had Cas to watch their backs.

Cas was another thing completely. Dean could just about put up with the man getting his ego strokes from Sam because Sam was a big boy and Dean knew all Sam was interested in were the stories. They didn't meet too many others like them and most of the ones they did meet had heard about Sam and Dean and weren't too keen to hang around. Starting the apocalypse seemed to have that effect on people.

No, what Dean couldn't deal with was when Mathew started trying to get attention from Cas. He sighed, picking at the label on his bottle of beer and winced as Mathew rolled up his sleeve to show where something had taken a bite out of his shoulder. Sam nodded, eyes alight and apparently they were on to the part of the conversation where they compared scars because he was showing where their ghoul of a little brother had tried to take a bite out of him. Dean drank more because he hated that story.

They had to be careful who they got involved with because having a tame angel – and Dean really didn't think you could call Castiel tame simply because he showed up every once and a while when Dean needed help – but having an angel on side tended to put some people off. Castiel was powerful but angels weren't exactly the good guys in a lot of people's eyes. Then there were the ones who just thought they could kick back, forget about hunting and let the angel do all the work. Bobby had promised him that Mathew got the Cas situation. He wasn't going to be calling Cas to do every little thing and neither was he going to be shooting bullets through him for all the good that ever did.

Mathew had understood the situation alright. He'd taken one look at Castiel with his crumpled coat and messed up hair, his bright blue eyes and his chipped pink lips and smiled like he was the cat who'd got the cream. Dean knew that kind of smile. Fuck it, he'd used that kind of smile before when he'd seen easy prey in a bar or a club, the times when he'd known he'd be getting laid by the end of the night.

It was the kind of smile that said Cas was going to be fucked and he didn't even know it yet.

Mathew had smiled like that to Castiel and Castiel had just smiled back shyly and shaken his hand in greeting. Dean still wasn't over that.

Dean growled under his breath, slamming his bottle down on to the table where he would have liked Mathew's face to have been instead and both Sam and Mathew jumped, the latter turning to take a good look at Dean.

"I think your brother is drunk." He murmured to Sam who was eyeing him speculatively.

"No, I'm fine." Dean said, getting to his feet and digging his wallet out of his pocket. He threw the money down in front of Sam, enough to cover what he'd had and a little more besides. Sam could stay, could have fun. Dean didn't want to begrudge him that and he liked seeing Sam smile but he couldn't stay there listening to Mathew any longer. "I'm just gonna drive back. Get an early night."

"Dean, I'm not so sure you should be driving." Sam said, starting to get up from the table but Mathew's friendly hand on his shoulder kept him down.

"Don't worry about it, Sam. I'll make sure your brother gets back safe. You just order me another beer, okay?" He said, shooting Sam a wink and Dean groaned under his breath. If it had been Dean flashing people winks then Sam would have been rolling his eyes by now but for Mathew he just nodded. Dean wondered how Sam couldn't see through the guy and all his smarmy charm. It was as if Dean was the only person in the universe immune to the guy.

He walked out into the parking lot, aware of Mathew's footsteps behind his and Dean knew he was still sober enough to drive back. He'd hardly had more than two beers, not even enough to get him buzzed anymore and there was some whiskey back in the motel room with his name on it. He dug the Impala's keys out of his pocket and turned to face Mathew.

"Look, you don't need to bother. I'm fine." He repeated again, gritting his teeth because while he wasn't drunk he wasn't sober enough to play polite with a guy he didn't like.

Mathew looked him up and down and Dean growled again. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"Just go back inside to Sam." He said, already knowing that Mathew had struck out there. Sam was just interested in him for the stories and he'd find Sam pretty unappealing once he realised that there was an archangel who liked to show up any time Sam found himself getting past flirting. Of course Gabriel said it was just because he liked making sure Sam was in a perpetual state of sexual frustration and this was his new way of messing with Sam but Dean couldn't really see what goal that achieved. It was a good thing Bobby didn't make it a habit of telling prospective help about Gabriel. That would probably dampen a few friendships. A couple of hunters still had run-ins with a Trickster fitting Gabriel's description now and again.

"Yeah, you're not going to get anywhere with him." He said, too tired to let Mathew think he had a chance with Sam. Better for them all to cut their losses before Gabriel showed up and turned Sam into a field mouse or something. It was the most extreme form of pulling pigtails Dean had seen in a long time but Gabriel swore up and down he just liked playing with Sam and he only hooked up with other gods and goddesses. Sam was just his favourite mortal to torment. Dean really didn't want to try explaining Gabriel to Mathew, especially not when his head was starting to pound and he really needed to get back to the motel and get a glass of whiskey inside him.

Mathew glanced back over his shoulder to the doorway of the bar. "Your brother? No, I'm not interested. It's just a bit of fun, flirting with him. I've got my eye on someone else."

Those words sobered Dean up.

"Yeah?" He asked, voice guarded. "Who?"

Mathew shoot him that easy grin again and Dean had never wanted to punch someone so hard in his life.

"Your friend Cas. I never really thought about angels before, do they all look that good?" Mathew's tongue darted out to lick his lips and Dean knew he was imagining Cas, imagining doing things to Cas. "He looks like he'd be a screamer once you got him out of all those clothes."

"Cas is a virgin." And that piece of information didn't do anything Dean wanted it to do. Mathew just raised an eyebrow and his grin spread wider still.

"Really? Even better." He said. "I always like being the first one."

And with that he turned and headed back into the bar. Dean unlocked the Impala and wrenched the door open. He drove back to the motel, playing the conversation over and over in his mind but every time it ended with him punching that smug look off Mathew's face. The guy was too cocky, so sure of himself and far too sure that he'd be able to coax Castiel into bed with him. Dean knew Castiel, he knew his friend didn't like sex, that sexual encounters frightened him but he didn't want to tell Mathew how he'd found that out. He just wanted Mathew to get the hell out of his life and away from Castiel as soon as possible. He got back, drank two shots of Whiskey and found himself hoping Gabriel had shown up and decided he'd rather target Mathew than Sammy and Mathew was now scurrying around on all fours.

Having to leave his baby in the motel parking lot would have been enough to make Dean unhappy but the fact that he was riding in the back of Mathew's truck, staring at the back of the man's head because Sam had won the game of rock, paper, scissors they'd had back in the motel room and was sitting up in the passenger seat. Dean's fingers itched, he wanted to hold on to the steering wheel, wanted to put his foot down and drive because when he was driving he didn't have to think about anything but the road.

Stuck in the back seat he had too much time with his own thoughts. He glared at little harder at Mathew, hating that they were going up into the mountains. He'd be stuck out there for the next couple of days with just Sam and Mathew, camping which Dean already hated and tracking down a Wendigo. People had been going missing, snatched off the mountainside and they had only a little window of time to find them alive or kill the creature before it slipped off the grid again for however long it hibernated.

"So," Mathew began, glancing up to look at Dean in the rear view mirror. Dean pretended to smile but it came out as a grimace. "You guys fought one of those before?"

"Yeah," Sam piped up. "A long time ago, some kids went missing out camping." He stretched his long legs out in front of him and Dean rolled his eyes. He was obviously enjoying the truck more than the Impala.

"It's been a while." He said. Mathew nodded.

"I haven't taken one of these down before. I'll let you guys take the lead. Just tell me and I'll follow." He flashed Dean another smile and Dean hated himself a little bit more. Mathew wasn't a total jerk and they were heading off into a fight he'd never had a hand in before. That wasn't too surprising considering that Wendigo weren't all that common, preferring to keep to the woods and mountainous regions where they could hide easily enough. The fact that they slept for years didn't make them easy to find either. Mathew deferring to him and Sam and their knowledge in this area was what any good hunter would have done. Dean just wished that Mathew wasn't a good hunter. Accidents happened out in the woods all the time.

He sat back in his seat, cursing himself under his breath because whatever he thought about Mathew, whatever his personal problems with the man and what the man wanted to do to Castiel that didn't mean he had to start thinking about accidents. They'd lost too many friends, too many brothers in arms for Dean to start thinking flippantly about that. He was going to watch Mathew's back up in the woods and make sure he came out of it alive. No matter what sort of arrogant, cocksure bastard he was.

"You're just not bringing home any souvenirs from this." He muttered. "I've seen the inside of a Wendigo's lair. Trust me; you don't want anything from there."

Mathew's bark of laughter reminded Dean again that whatever problems he had with the guy they had to put it aside. They were going after something ridiculously powerful that hunted human flesh in a territory it knew like the back of its hand. Dean couldn't afford to let anything else get in the way of tracking it down. Besides, this was Castiel that Mathew had his sights set on. Cas didn't care about things like that. Cas probably wouldn't even understand if he got propositioned. Dean nodded to himself, trying to reassure himself that the angel would find the attention aggravating rather than interesting and hoped that Castiel hadn't been watching any more pay-per-view channels. Watching Cas kiss a demon had been bad enough even if that was just an experiment, a way to show Dean that he did understand a bit of humanity. Dean didn't think he'd be able to take it if Castiel suddenly decided he wanted to get in touch with humanity again.

He swallowed hard, staring down at his hands. It all kept coming back to Cas. Dean just wanted to protect him. Cas was still coming off the souls binge and if they hadn't been able to trap them back in purgatory, if Castiel hadn't listened to him then Dean didn't know what he would have done. He wasn't used to the idea that Cas could lie to him. He wanted to keep the angel safe but part of him knew now that there were sides to Cas that Dean didn't understand. Castiel had done what he'd done because he thought he was doing the right thing but what if he did something just because he wanted to. He'd seen Dean do that enough times and Dean was his teacher, Dean was the one who'd taken him to a brothel and hit on girls in front of him, taught Castiel that sex was meaningless and fun but nothing else.

And he did think that way and if Castiel had been going after some girl then Dean could have sucked it up.

It was the thought of Cas getting interested in another hunter, a male hunter, that was driving him up the wall. He just couldn't put his finger exactly on why, only that he knew Mathew would end up hurting Cas and Dean had to put a stop to that before it even began.

They were four days into a hike to track down a Wendigo when Cas arrived. Dean had leant up against a tree to catch his breath for a moment, not even certain he was tracking the right thing anymore when suddenly he was staring into Castiel's bright blue eyes and the angel was only a few centimetres in front of him.

"Cas." He said, reaching out the give him a firm shove on the shoulder just so Castiel got the message this time. "Personal space."

The angel took a step back, not as far as Dean was really comfortable with but better than when they'd been practically nose to nose. He continued to stare at Dean impassively and Dean pushed himself away from the tree and began to stalk deeper into the forest. "Do you have anything to tell me, Cas?" He called back over his shoulder. "I'm kind of busy here, important stuff, people getting eaten."

"No." Castiel said quietly and Dean turned to look at him. Cas looked forlorn standing there and out of place in his suit and tie in the middle of the forest. Dean knew the death toll in Heaven had been high, that Castiel had cut down the unbelievers before he'd got his new powers under control and returned to them, to Dean. He guessed once you'd killed most of your family there weren't very many places to go or a lot of things to do. He supposed he was the only constant Castiel had.

"Want to tag along with me then?" He offered and was rewarded with that shy, half smile on Cas's lips. He knew Castiel didn't really feel he was forgiven yet and Dean didn't feel that he should just get handed a get out of jail free card but both him and Sammy had messed up and had second chances. He might be watching Castiel a little more closely now but they were still friends, and then there was this thing with Mathew. Castiel was plaguing his every waking thought, Dean was completely off his hunting game and that was just hammering home to him that Castiel meant something to him. He didn't usually get this worried about anyone who wasn't blood or Bobby.

They walked together quietly, Dean listening for sounds because Wendigos could mimic a human voice but everything was quiet. He'd told Sam and Mathew to call him if they found anything, safer than them shouting and if they didn't get anywhere he'd meet them back at the camp before it got dark. He still felt uncomfortable with Castiel trailing after him. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Castiel about Mathew, about what he'd said in the parking lot and to try and make a joke of it, try to judge what Castiel's reaction was but Dean didn't think he could take it if Castiel just had his normal, curious, puzzled expression even after Dean explained it all to him.

He opted for an easier course of conversation. "Gabriel not about then?" Because there'd been a point they'd needed that little bastard and Gabriel had shown up, sword in hand, kicked Leviathan ass and then started shadowing Castiel around like he was frightened he might start inhaling souls again if no one was watching him. It had made it easier to forgive him for making their lives hell the first few times they'd met him and a lot easier to forgive him for faking his own death in that fight with Lucifer.

Sam had been alternating between ecstatic and depressed seeing Gabriel back from the supposed dead and Dean thought he could understand those feelings. It was good to have their friend back, especially when he was on your side but there was always that worry Gabriel would turn on them with a snap of his fingers. "So, yeah." He nudged Castiel again. "Gabriel?"

Castiel shook his head. "Gabriel is…around. I believe he may be following Sam."

Dean listened carefully to make sure he couldn't hear any rocks falling or trees being felled and since he couldn't he concluded that whatever Gabriel was doing with Sam probably wasn't bad for his health or likely to get him hurt by an active Wendigo. Castiel looked almost fidgety now they were talking about Gabriel and Dean could guess what had happened. While it was great that Castiel had one big brother who wasn't dead or locked in a cage that brother was still Gabriel. No wonder Castiel would rather spend his time on hunts with Dean then following Gabriel around, thinking up new ways to annoy Sam.

It was nice too, just walking with Castiel, not talking because they didn't need to talk. Dean could just enjoy being alone with his friend and not having to worry about anything worse than a Wendigo. Vicious nasty cannibals they might be but they didn't start apocalypses or open Hell so on Dean's scale of bad things they didn't rank all that high.

At least that was how he felt until there was rustling in the bushes up ahead and he remembered how the last Wendigo he'd fought had pulled people up into trees, torn through human flesh like it was tissue paper and he grabbed Castiel's hand, pulling him off the trail and pushing him up against a tree. He kept Castiel pressed between himself and the tree truck, stupid though it was because if something went down then Castiel was an angel and he could probably toast the thing but Dean had no idea what angels could do to Wendigo's and he wasn't in the mood to find out.

There was no more movement in the trees, no more rustling from the bushes and Dean concluded it must have been some kind of animal they'd disturbed. He didn't think his part of this search was going to turn up anything successful, it seemed a dead end. He leant back in to tell Castiel that, to suggest that they go back when he became aware of the way Castiel was watching him. He never blinked, Dean was used to that now, but Castiel was looking up at him as if he wanted to memorise every freckle on Dean's face, as if he'd never really got the chance to look this closely and now he had he wouldn't let it go. Dean was aware suddenly of just how close they were, the whole of his body pressed tight against Castiel's, hips together, chests and he was sure Castiel could feel every breath he took, was sure it vibrated through the angel's vessel.

Castiel's tongue snaked out over his pink lips, too pink, obscenely pink of a guy and Dean couldn't help following that movement. He had Castiel so close to him, could smell him and Castiel smelled like nothing else on Earth. He didn't even smell like he belonged there, but like he was made of something indescribable, something Heavenly and Dean drew in a lungful of that scent. He wanted to be wrapped up in it and the way Castiel leant forward, nose skimming the collar of Dean's old t-shirt to breathe him in made Dean think that Castiel wanted the same. He wasn't even putting any thought into what he was doing, moving so his arms were wrapped around Castiel and he was just cradling him, cradling them together. If he bent his head just a little he could have kissed Castiel's wet lips, made him realise that there was so much more to sex then what he'd watched in a porn video and seen in a brothel. Dean could be gentle. He'd make himself be gentle for Castiel. Their mouths were inches apart now and Dean wanted to close that gap.

His phone rang.

The ringtone sounded so foreign in the silence of the forest, so wrong and it broke whatever moment he and Castiel had been having. The angel looked away and Dean stepped back, digging in his pocket to drag his phone out, flipping it open.

"Yeah?" He growled into the receiver because he was hard and he was angry and he didn't know what the fuck he'd been thinking about doing but he knew Castiel had wanted it too. He watched as Castiel touched the tree bark, rubbing his fingertips over it and knew that Castiel was just ignoring him now.

"Dean?" Mathew's voice sounded tinny, far away and Dean groaned. It would be Mathew who'd call. He could ruin things without even being there. "I think I've got something."

And that was why there were out there in the forest after all, to kill the Wendigo. That was where Dean's head should be, that was what he should be focusing on, not Castiel. "Right," He said, turning away from Castiel and taking a deep breath. He could will his erection away. He'd had practise, although this was the first time he'd been getting hard with his angelic best friend so it might take him a little longer than normal. "Call Sam and we'll meet back at the camp. Plan our next course of action."

He ended the call and turned round to check on Castiel but the angel was gone.

"Fuck." Dean swore. He leant back against the tree, remembering the feeling of Castiel against him, how warm he been and how good he'd smelled and found getting rid of his hard on practically impossible.

As Mathew had found some of the missing hikers rucksacks slashed open on the trail he'd been following they'd agreed to narrow the search down to that area in the morning. Dean had stoked the fire high, remembering that Windegos hated the fire and painted Anasazi symbols on the trees circling their camp. That should keep the Windego out if nothing else. Mathew bedded down in his own tent and Dean was left sharing with Sam. His mind was still full of Cas, of the almost kiss and Dean just wanted to focus on that, on what it meant but Sam was staring at him. Dean was used to that stare. It was the one Sam used when he wanted to talk about something but didn't know how to start.

"What?" Dean bit out, knowing that he was going to have to face this at some point. He might as well let Sam get whatever was off his chest. Dean already had enough issues with unspoken feelings and people keeping secrets. He didn't want Sam to turn into another problem like Castiel was.

Sam sucked in his breath. "What's up with you? You're being a jerk to Mathew."

Dean rolled his eyes and Sam went on.

"I know he's been flirting with me, but Dean I'm not interested. You don't have to play the protective big brother. I'm old enough to take care of myself."

Dean thought of all the ways that wasn't true because Sam was vulnerable. He had a wall in his head protecting him from Hell, from what had happened to him down there and when Cas had broken it Sam had been destroyed. If it wasn't for Gabriel and his archangel snappy powers then Sam might still be in that state. Dean groaned softly, burying his head in his hands. How had he even been considering kissing Castiel when he'd done something like that to Sam? When he'd betrayed the two of them? Cas was supposed to be his friend and sometimes Dean had trouble remembering that. He shouldn't be making it more complicated than it already was.

Sam raised an eyebrow, obviously misunderstanding the reason for Dean's sudden moroseness.

"Really. Dean, nothing is going on. I'm not interested in him."

"No, I know. You've got Gabriel." Dean spat out, just to see Sam's cheeks go bright red. They really were a pair – him and Sam. Sam with his crush on a trickster who'd killed Dean more times than Dean could count and him with his mixed up friendship with Cas who'd been trying to proclaim himself a god less than a year ago.

"I…I'm not." Sam stammered and Dean took pity on him. His brother was painfully obvious and maybe Dean could give him a break this time. Neither of them exactly had spotless track records when it came to getting involved with people.

"You are not the reason I don't like Mathew." He said, running a hand through his hair, trying to distract himself because this was hard to say, much harder than he'd thought it would be. "I don't like him because he…he wants to fuck Cas, okay?"

Now that was out in the open Sam was blinking at him, slow understanding spreading through his face and Dean really hated his brother at that point. Sammy had always known him better than anyone else and Dean could already guess that Sam knew just why that was rubbing Dean the wrong way. Sam nudged his shoulder playfully.

"Oh no. Not your angel boyfriend." He said and Dean smacked him.

"Cas and me aren't…I'm not…he hurt you, Sam!"

Sam's smile was warm, heartfelt and Dean didn't know what was going through his brother's head at that point but then Sam wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"It's cool. I've forgiven him." He said and Dean felt a weight lift off him. Sam was too nice. Dean still wasn't ready to forgive Castiel a lot of things, like going behind his back and working with Crowley, but he guessed this was as close to a blessing as he was likely to get with Sam.

"Yeah, well, I've forgiven Gabriel." He muttered and Sam's smile brightened even further. "But only because I can't remember it. And occasionally he's useful."

"Occasionally, when he's not being a dick." Sam agreed cheerfully, unwinding his arm from around Dean and Dean couldn't be more grateful for that. He knew Sam liked hugs but they made him uncomfortable, especially when they were talking about angelic guys they'd both like to bone. It was getting too close to a slumber party for Dean to handle.

Sam settled down into his sleeping bag and Dean hoped that was the end of it. He struggled into his own sleeping bag, kicking around in it first to make sure that there wasn't anything lurking in the bottom left by an archangel who still enjoyed pranks a bit too much when Sam spoke again.

"I think you don't like Mathew because he reminds you of you and you're frightened that Cas will be interested."

"Moments over, Sam." Dean muttered, not willing to listen to any of his brother's theories. He hummed loudly until Sam gave up trying to talk to him and roll over onto his side. In the following quite, punctuated only by the occasional half-grunt from that Sam made in his sleep, Dean stared at the canvas wall of their tent and tried to ignore the stabbing feeling in his gut that Sam might be right.

In the morning they tracked the Wendigo to its cave hidden high up in a mountainous region of the forest park. There are fragments of bone littered all of the entrance and Dean can't help but wonder how long the Wendigo had been living in the area, feeding off the people who were careless enough to come and camp in its woods. The time limit between kills made people forget, consider the deaths and disappearances to have been caused by unrelated wild animal attacks. They didn't realise that while they were perfectly safe sometimes, occasionally they'd wonder in during the Wendigo's feeding period.

Two of the vanished hikers were already dead. One had been mostly eaten, probably on the day he was taken and the other one was still fresh. There were no maggots and he couldn't have been dead longer than a day. Dean knew it was pointless to wish things were different. It never helped anything but he couldn't help thinking if they'd followed Mathew's track to the end when he said he'd got something the man might still be alive. Then again he might have already been dead. There wasn't anything they could do for him now.

There were still two hikers alive and it was Sam who got them down and helped them to their feet. They were dizzy, sick from hanging upside down and seeing their friends eaten but they were alive which counted for something. Sam put his arm around the young woman, supporting her and the man leant against his shoulder. That just left the Wendgio for Mathew and Dean to take care of.

It tried to take a chunk out of them but Mathew shot it in the head. That wasn't enough to keep it down but it did incapacitate it long enough for Dean to dose it with oil and set it on fire. He watched the body burn with a quiet pleasure. There was always a satisfaction in a job well done and this thing could have been killing people for hundreds of years before they'd stopped it.

Mathew had scoped out the cave, found more bodies that had been gnawed right to the bone but he'd not taken anything for a souvenir so Dean could say he was beginning to like him better. They took the two hikers back to civilisation and dropped them off at the nearest sheriff's office with the coordinates of where they'd found them and a cover story about stumbling across a bear. It was pretty much the best outcome they could have hoped for and now it was time to head back to the motel, collect the Impala and say goodbye to Mathew for good.

Dean could have been happier but he was pretty satisfied as it happened.

That feeling of satisfaction faded as soon as they reached the motel room and Castiel was already waiting there for them with Gabriel in tow. Dean hated the way Mathew's eyes lit up when he saw the two angels, like Castiel was something exotic that he wanted to get his filthy hands all over.

"Wow, so this is what you come back to, huh? I can see why you keep surviving. " He muttered out of the side of his mouth and Dean balled his hands into fists and then relaxed. Getting drunk was better than getting into a fight. He opened the mini fridge and pulled out a beer for himself and one for Gabriel who was waving his hand in the air trying to attract his attention. He threw the bottle to the archangel who opened it with a snap of his fingers and took a long sip, sighing in pleasure.

"Two angels?" Mathew asked, turning round to Dean and wiggling his eyebrows. Dean decided he really hated the guy.

"Archangel." Gabriel said, practically half way through the beer already. He shot Mathew a wide grin. "And where have you been hiding? Dean, Sammy, you never said you had handsome friends! I would have visited earlier."

Dean felt rather than saw Sam's glare and he sighed. Sam's crush was going to stay just that as far as Dean could see. No matter how much Gabriel flirted with him or acted like a jealous boyfriend at the end of the day Gabriel was a law onto himself. He did what he wanted and that was turning out to be anyone but Sam.

Mathew ran a hand through his hair, chuckling softly and far more confident then Dean thought he had any right to be. "I'm flattered, honestly, but I'm more interested in your friend there." He gestured towards Castiel who tilted his head to the side. Dean would have found his obliviousness cute if he wasn't secretly trying to restrain himself from strangling Mathew on the spot. After everything Dean had tried to teach him Castiel still viewed the world in such an alien way and that just made him worried that Mathew would find it far too easy to convince Castiel to do something with him, something Castiel would eventually regret the way he would have regretted going to bed with the woman at the brothel.

Dean took another swig of his beer and stared hard at Castiel who stared back at him.

"Interested?" He said, not taking his eyes off Dean.

Mathew ploughed on, apparently unaware of the looks the two were exchanging. "Yeah, I thought we could grab a beer or something, ditch these guys and have a little celebration."

Gabriel rolled his eyes wildly.

"Oh Dad, what is this? An angel fetish or something? Are you completely blind? Castiel has a profound bound with Dean so if he was going to celebrate with anyone it would be Dean. Preferably naked but since Dean's already started on the beer that'll have to wait till he sobers up. I heard you had a bit of trouble getting hard when you've been drinking, Dean!" Gabriel gave him a cheerful wave and Dean wondered if he could get away with stabbing him with Castiel's sword. Not a hard stab. Maybe in the shoulder or something.

He opened his mouth to tell Gabriel to shut up but Castiel was staring at him again, a dusky blush high in his cheeks and Dean ran Gabriel's little outburst back over in his mind.

"Yeah," He said, gesturing between himself and Castiel. "We've got a profound bond."

The smile on Castiel's face – hesitant and very hopeful was everything Dean had ever wanted to see there.

"Oh, right." Mathew said, not bothering to hide his disappointment. He licked his lips and inclined his head towards Gabriel. "I don't suppose you…?"

Sam cleared his throat. "Actually, no, he wouldn't. We've got a profound bound too."

Gabriel spluttered and Dean was very pleased to see him once lost for words. That served him right for the number of times he'd broken up Sam's potential hook ups. It was time for Sam to get his own back on him. Only when Dean glanced at his brother Sam didn't look smug. He had the same sort of hopeful, open expression as Cas. Dean shook his head in astonishment because even though he'd told Sam he forgave Gabriel he was never going to understand Sam's attraction to him.

"Right then." Mathew was saying but Dean didn't really hear him. Gabriel was pouting and Dean guessed he was going to need to clear out for a bit to leave time for Sam to explain to Gabriel just exactly what was going on. For all his sneaking and scheming Gabriel could be pretty stupid when he wanted to be. Dean wasn't too willing to hang around either when Castiel kept looking at him, open and longing as if he didn't know how to hide what he wanted. He probably didn't.

"I'm gonna hit the road guys." Mathew said, grabbing his car keys. "Call me if you need me again."

And then he was gone and Dean knew that neither he or Sam would be calling the guy again unless they really had their backs up against the wall. Still, Bobby had done Dean a favour sending Mathew along. Without the guy hitting on Cas it might have taken Dean a lot longer to realise that he and Cas had something more than a friendship, however fractured it had been. Dean wasn't ready to put a name on it just yet but he had time now to explore it. The hunt was over, Mathew was gone and it looked like Sam and Gabriel had found something to keep them occupied with for a while.

"Come on, Cas." He said, the revving of Mathew's engine fading behind them as the man drove off. "I think we better give these two love birds some privacy."

It was worth it just to see Gabriel blush. Dean didn't care what he was risking and he knew he'd probably wake up the morning after trapped in a bed made of jello or something similar but for the moment it was so worth it.

The moment he got out into the parking lot and it was just him and Castiel was the moment Dean started to wonder if he'd done the right thing. There was a lot of bad blood between them and as much as Dean wanted to believe Castiel would never betray him again in the future he knew that Castiel had thought he'd been doing the right thing the last time, that he'd done it because he wanted to protect Dean. Dean couldn't deny there might be times in the future when he'd lie to Cas because he thought it was safer for him. They made each other miserable half the time and the rest of the time Dean was so ridiculously happy he couldn't remember the bad times.

It wasn't healthy but Dean didn't think he could do healthy any more. He only had his parents' marriage to work from as a basic understanding of relationships and his mom had died young and his dad had gone crazy trying to avenge her. Healthy wasn't something Winchesters were well-known for. His baby brother was in a hotel room trying to convince an archangel with an unhealthy attachment to faking his own death that they could have something.

By those standards he and Castiel were pretty much normal. Dean had tortured people in Hell till he felt he'd lost a part of his humanity and Castiel had proclaimed himself God. They could probably make it work just as well as anyone else could.

Castiel appeared to be thinking the same thing, staring at his shoes in deep reflection and Dean could help but smile at him.

"Let's go for a drive?" He suggested and Castiel nodded.

It felt good to be back in the Impala. His baby practically purred under him and Dean hated to think of how he'd had to leave her sitting in that motel parking lot all week. His car was made to be driven, she demanded it. Crossing down empty roads in the middle of the night, hearing the roar of the engine when he really gunned it and with Castiel sat beside him in the passage seat; it was the best celebration for a job well done Dean could think of.

Pulling into a side road though and parking up he got a better idea. Their first kiss was hesitant, lips just brushing together and Dean wasn't sure he was going to be able to do this but kissing Castiel felt right. It put everything in perspective. The jealousy when Mathew had shown up, his refusal to believe that Castiel would have betrayed him, Castiel's desire to stay with him as close as he could and the reason behind his rebellion. Everything made sense now and Dean bought his hand up to cradle the back of Castiel's head, forcing their mouths together and kissing him with an intensity Dean would have been frightened of it was anyone but Castiel.

The angel had died for him. He'd gone to hell to bring back Dean's soul. Cas was his and he was Cas's and no matter how much they tried to pull away from each other they'd always be drawn back together.

For a long time all they did was kiss, exploring each other's mouths, getting used to the feel of another person against them. For Dean it was the strangeness of another man kissing him that he had to get used to, the scrape of Castiel's stubble against his cheek, the chapped warmth of Castiel's mouth and he knew for Castiel this was only the second time he'd ever kissed someone. Dean could wait. Now he knew what he wanted with Castiel, what he felt for him, he couldn't help feeling like he'd been waiting for the angel since Castiel had appeared in his life but he wasn't going to rush him now.

It didn't seem Castiel was worried about being rushed though. He was the one who groaned softly and forced himself up from the passenger seat and into Dean's lap. Dean held him tight, knowing he'd never be able to get enough of Castiel. He swallowed down every little noise Castiel made – every whimper, every whisper of his name and he was tugging off Castiel's tie, unbuttoning his shirt.

Dean broke the kiss, struggling to breath and shocked to find he already had Castiel naked from the waist up. He hadn't even noticed what he was doing, only aware of how much he wanted to be skin to skin with Castiel. How much he wanted to be inside him.

"Do you want this?" He growled, nipping at Castiel's ear. He still smelled indescribable, utterly delicious and Dean thought he could lose his mind just from Castiel's scent. He wanted to wake up to pillows with that smell on it, wanted to curl into the warm space Castiel left behind.

"Yes." Castiel whispered. "I want this Dean."

Dean pulled his head down again, fingers tangled into Castiel's messy hair and he kissed him as if he was drowning and Castiel was the only thing keeping him afloat. Castiel's fingers were slow, uncertain as they tugged at the hem of Dean's t-shirt. They broke away again, giving just enough time for Castiel to pull the shirt up, over Dean's head and throw it onto the passenger seat.

It was cramped, stupid really for them to consider doing it there in the front seat of the Impala because Dean knew they didn't have enough room. He just didn't have any desire to pull away from Castiel for even a second longer, certainly not enough time to get them both into the backseat. Castiel was wiggling in his lap, pushing down his slacks and his underwear and Dean followed suit, rolling his jeans down just enough to let his cock bob free. He'd been hard since the moment they started driving and kissing Castiel had just made him harder still.

Castiel's own cock was hard and he looked down between them in wonder as if he'd never really seen it like that before. Dean supposed he hadn't. Apart from that one time when he'd watched that porno Castiel didn't seem to have ever had a hard on. Dean doubted he'd ever touched himself and he sucked in his breath, reaching his hand down to run his fingers over Castiel's cock. The angel in his lap shivered, leaning into him, his breath ghosting over Dean's cheek.

"Please." Castiel said, his voice strained and Dean had to press his mouth into the curve of Castiel's shoulder to hide his smirk.

"What do you want?" He asked and Castiel moved restlessly up and down in his arms.

"You." Castiel's brow was furrowed as he tried to find the right words, seeking for something that he didn't understand or didn't have the words for. "I want you."

"How do you want me?" Dean murmured, pressing kisses across his collarbone and Castiel gasped softly.

"I don't know." He said. "I want all of you."

Dean struggled to pull Castiel's trousers down lower but they tangled around the angel's thighs. He couldn't get them down low enough, not for what he wanted but he tugged Castiel closer, his cock slipping up between Castiel's thighs and he pressed his hand to the side of Castiel's leg, pushing them together so he could fuck up between them. Castiel whimpered, this obviously not what he'd been searching for and Dean knew because it wasn't what he wanted either but he couldn't do that yet. No matter the fire that was burning in his stomach he wasn't going to hurt Castiel. They'd been hurting each other for too long now.

"Not yet." He groaned, nipping at Castiel's ear. "Later, Cas. I promise. When we get back but now just this."

He didn't know if Castiel would even understand what Dean was saying to him but he hoped he would. He slipped his fingers between Castiel's cheeks, finding the tight pucker of his hole and he pressed one finger there, rubbing gently and was rewarded by a soft sob from Castiel.

"Yeah baby, gonna fuck you, right in this tight hole." He muttered and Castiel bucked up and down in his lap, almost begging for Dean's fingers inside him. Dean wondered if he could do it without hurting him. Castiel was an angel, he healed up fast but Dean just wanted to make every bit of it good. He knew Cas was still a virgin. If Dean could give him one good human first time then this would be it. "Just not yet, Cas. Not yet."

Castiel whined softly in the back of his throat and Dean knew he wasn't getting what he needed. There wasn't enough friction. The space between Castiel's thighs was hot and tight and it was giving Dean everything he needed but Castiel was wiggling and grinding between the feeling of Dean's fingers rubbing and probing against him and the warm air of the gap between them. Dean let go of Castiel's hip, reaching between the two of them to wrap his fingers around Castiel's cock. Two pumps and the angel was coming.

Dean tugged him close, no longer worried about making sure Castiel got off. Castiel lolled against him, his body sated with pleasure and Dean thrust up against him, feeling heat beginning to tingle in his balls – a sure sign he was going to come – and he moved back just a bit to kiss Castiel, slow and deep and he came in a long spurt, all across Castiel's milky white thighs.

The two of them curled into each other, breathing together and Dean kept stealing kisses whenever he had the breath for them. He wound their fingers together and held Castiel's hand tightly in his own.

"Do you think we should go back?" Castiel asked finally, raising his head from where he'd been resting it against Dean's chest.

Dean knew he shouldn't sleep in the car. It would end up with him having aches and kinks in his neck and no matter how appealing the weight of Castiel on him was now it would be better when they were in a motel bed together.

"Yeah, I think so. Got to get you fucked properly." Dean's smile stretched across his face and Castiel tilted his chin up to press his lips to the corner of Dean's mouth.

"Yes, we do." He agreed, voice dark and Dean found himself scrambling to pull his jeans back up and tuck himself away. Castiel was dressed again in the blink of an eye, no trace on him that a moment ago he'd been shaking his way through his first orgasm. It was hard to imagine he'd had buttoned up Castiel moaning for him a moment ago and Dean grabbed his shirt from the floor, pulling it on and then gripped the steering wheel hard. He was already sure he'd be sporting another hard on by the time they got back to the motel.

He turned the keys in the ignition, feeling the shudder as the car came to life around him and at that moment he reached out instinctively to take Castiel's hand. The angel let him, turning his head slightly to smile at Dean with that little half-smile of his.

They drove off back down the empty road and Dean was sure whatever was going to come they'd face it together.


End file.
